Critical Capture
by Meta-Akira
Summary: I could tell, by the way it had looked at me with its intense red eyes, that it was testing me.   "Catch me if you possibly can, human."


**Hey! Akira here with a quick LeafGreen one-shot!  
>I know, some of you are probably disappointed that this wasn't a TD or DR update, or even one of the options that had been on my poll. But this was inspired off of events that went down on my LeafGreen Version. And I just had to get this out. XD<br>Also, this does not have to do with the Critical Captures of Black and White. I just thought it made an awesome title.  
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**Enjoy!  
>I don't own the characters of LG or FR<br>(~)**

I held my breath as it wriggled around. Once… twice…_ three times_…

Then promptly let it out in a disappointed gust of an exhale when the capsule shattered, releasing the monster within once more.

I quickly ran my tongue across my lips in agitation as the beautiful cyan bird snapped out of its slumber and cast its blood red gaze on me angrily. I shuddered, and not only because of the chilly temperatures down here in the damp, flooded cave of the Seafoam Island.

I flinched when it sent another harshly cold Ice Beam at my loyal Snorlax, Narcolepsy. Lucky for me, I guess, he was definitely in no mood for a nap. His massive form braced itself in a defensive stance, taking the brunt of the frozen blow.

I ran a hand through my hair, checking once more at the large pocket that had been filled to the brim with miniaturized capsules of all sorts. Unfortunately, I had already run through my precious small supply of Ultra Balls, and Great Balls were very sparse. I licked my lips again, knowing that soon, I'd be relying only on the red and white spheres that I carried a myriad of.

Oh well. I was determined. I quickly dragged out an Ether and tossed it to Narco, who surprisingly caught it with no trouble and gulped down the stuff. I had to be careful. I was, excuse the pun, treading on thin ice. Articuno was still more powerful than my team was, and Narcolepsy was getting tired quickly, again no pun intended. Being a bit slow didn't help since the ice bird had been sure to amp up its Agility.

Not that it particularly needed to when it came to a lumbering Snorlax.

Ugh, I had to get my mind back in the game. I took my stance, replacing my white hat upon my long, messy brown tresses.

"Narco, ya gotta use Yawn again!"

My Snorlax nodded an affirmative, sighed in relief when Articuno decided to use Mind Reader, and let out a wide Yawn. I smiled when the enormous bird yawned in return, getting drowsy.

I snatched up a Great Ball. Four left. Then I had somewhere around seventy Pokeballs to fall back on. I paused as I considered the special gift that the grateful President of Silph Co. had given me after I had purged the building of those shady crooks and their boss.

_No, Leaf. You can do without. Save that for something else. If you caught Zapdos without it, you can do the same with Articuno._

I threw the ball…

Once… Twice…

_CRACK!_

And the battle raged on.

x~x~x~x~x

I grit my teeth in utter frustration as the bird escaped yet again. And once more, its red eyes flew open as it awoke with an icy cry.

The whole cavern was filled with bone-chilling clouds of mist that were often created by Articuno. It gave the waterlogged cave a surreal and eerie look, but it made Articuno look even more spectacular. I shivered from being in the damp cave for so long. Tiny beads of moisture from the mist clung to each strand of my long hair and settled on my skin. Ugh, it was times like this I wish I had a Fire-type to have nearby. I made a note to look for one once I made it to Cinnabar.

In the meantime, I rubbed my arms with my equally cool hands in order to try to inspire some sort of circulation to get them warm.

Narcolepsy had fallen to Articuno, unable to stand any longer, despite the potions and Ethers I kept tossing to him. Now, I was only glad that the blue bird had used up its Ice Beam, or my only real shot at catching it would be long gone.

"Glim, you know the procedure!" I shouted.

My Butterfree fluttered his wings in agreement, his bright green eyes standing out sharply on his dark purple face. He was the first Pokémon I'd ever caught aside from my Squirtle, and he happened to be very unique in the fact that he was alternately colored.

Imagine the surprise of a young kid stumbling upon their first Caterpie, only to notice that it was practically glowing gold instead of being a dull green.

Glimmer fluttered his wings again, only more frequently, and sent a cloud of gleaming green dust into Articuno's face. Thank God his compound eyes gave him such great accuracy.

I relaxed slightly when Articuno reluctantly but helplessly fell into a slumber once more.

But I was not out of this yet. This had to be somewhere around the fifteenth time the icy creature had fallen asleep. And each time, it defiantly struggled out of the capsule I'd tossed at it, awaking not too long after.

I fished out yet another Pokeball (the Great Balls were long gone), making another note that Glimmer would soon need another Ether to give a needed boost to his Sleep Powder's stamina.

My arm was sore as I threw a capsule at the sleeping bird.

Once… twice…_ three times…_

_CRACK!_

I bit my tongue to keep from shouting an obscenity. Usually, I was much more level-headed and cheerful, but this battle had been going on for nearly two, maybe three, hours. I couldn't tell how long, really, since my non-waterproof watch had been dunked into the seawater a few too many times. Courtesy of falling into a couple of holes that led straight into the drink. But I knew it had been more than twice as long as it took me to capture Zapdos back at the abandoned Power Plant. I couldn't help but feel stressed. But I couldn't back down now. I was determined to rise to the challenge that Articuno was giving me.

I could tell, by the way it had looked at me with its intense red eyes, that it was testing me.

"_Catch me if you possibly can, human."_

I sighed once more, shivering as I grabbed yet another Pokeball. The deep pocket that had been quite full at the beginning of this struggle was now close to only a fourth full. I had thrown somewhere around, what, thirty? Forty? Maybe even fifty of the things?

I impatiently whipped the bangs out of my eyes with the back of my hand, glancing at the slumbering Legend. I could see the proof of the many failed captures. Hundreds of vivid fragments of the shattered capsules littered the floor, scattered bits of metal and plastic that had once meshed together to form many flawless spheres.

This Articuno was determined. Despite being extremely worn from the battle and unable to use its crippling Ice Beam, it still resisted with a vengeance.

Well, I was determined as well. I wasn't going to give up now. I wouldn't give up until every Pokeball in my bag was used and splintered. Though, I was getting quite close to that, seeing as I only had about twenty more of the little things.

And so things went for another few rounds. I tightened my fist around one of the orbs so tightly that I was almost shocked I didn't break it.

Articuno had struggled to its feet once more, staring defiantly at me as the pieces of my previous attempts shifted under its slate-colored feet. Mist swirled around, but I was to numb now to notice.

Glimmer was exhausted. Articuno was exhausted. Heck, I was exhausted. But I was making sure this would come to an end.

"Articuno, you've challenged me, I know it," I muttered under my breath, though I was sure it could hear me and was intelligent enough to understand. "I'm not backing down. I've been here for hours. And I'm not leaving until one of us has the clear victory. I know I'm just a human girl, but I want to do my best to fulfill your challenge."

I presented the Pokeball (frankly, the many, many capsules had all become a blur in my mind, and I didn't have the will to keep track anymore) and raised my arm, not caring if it wasn't asleep. I'd run out of Ethers anyways. Glim was tired, and was hovering next to me, hardly in the battle anymore. No, right now, it was just me and Articuno.

We looked at each other, a Legend called Articuno and a teenaged human girl called Leaf. Who knew how long we stood there, but I broke the silence first after the long gaze.

"I tamed your brother Zapdos, and I'm determined to tame you as well," I said, finally letting the red and white sphere fly.

Articuno hardly reacted when the ball glanced off its wing, staring at me the entire time, even as it was sucked up in a red beam.

The ball bounced a couple times off the ground and rolled vaguely towards me. I looked on as it wobbled along the floor and came to an abrupt halt.

Only the resounding _click_ snapped me out of my trance. I stared at the capsule, motionless and whole. I felt like I couldn't move until it was surrounded by a purple glow as Glimmer used his Psychic to place it in my hands.

I continued to stare at it as the truth sank in.

"I didn't catch Articuno."

Glimmer gave me an odd glance, but I shook it off, motioning to the multicolored debris left over from the intense battle. He nodded and swept up all the fragments with his Psychic, leaving the area clear and pristine once more.

I thanked him for his hard efforts as I recalled him and slowly made my way to the water. A burst of light showed up as I tossed a ball from my belt and my Blastoise, Riptide, took shape in the water. She waited patiently for me to climb onto her shell, with me still gripping Articuno's ball.

"No, I didn't catch Articuno," I murmured again to myself. Riptide looked back at me before starting her way through the saltwater canals back to the ladder that would take me to the surface. "Articuno accepted me."

As we left the cavern behind, the mist swirled and faded away into memory.

**(~)  
>So... yeah. There you have it. Except for the dialogue content, this is basically what happened in my LeafGreen Version. Faced Articuno with somewhere around ninety Pokeballs, and that number dwindled down to twenty. I swear I used seventy-something of those little buggers. Used my Snorlax and shiny Butterfree with their Yawn and Sleep Powder, respectively. And because of friggin' Pressure, I used up my Ethers and Elixirs. <strong>

**Why didn't I reset and start over and thus probably save a bunch of stuff otherwise wasted? Because I felt like it was a challenge I had to do. Basically, I was just being stubborn. XD**

**Anyways, I ran out of Ethers/Elixirs, Yawn and Sleep Powder ran out of PP, and I was running out of patience. So I had a tirade at my DS, calling Articuno out, and threw one last Pokeball at the awake Legendary out of pure stubbornness and defiance, and as a last resort before I would reset and try again. Guess what? _It worked.  
><em>So then I felt like after my "talk", it had accepted me and all that nonsense. XD**

**Anyways, rambling aside, I don't know if you enjoyed this. But I enjoyed writing it. I'll get back to TD right away!**

**See ya! ~Meta-Akira  
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